UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIQN 
BOOKSTACKS 


^rinriplE  of  iffottratinii. 


THE  LAW  OF  NATURE, 


THE  LAW  OF 

MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT 

A NEW  VIEW  OF 

THE  END  OF  JUVENILE  CULTURE, 


ESPECIALLY  AS  REGARDS  THE  FEMALE  MIND. 


BY  E.  A.  BEAMAN, 

PRINCIPAL  OP  A YOUNG  LADIES’  SCHOOL,  TEMPLE  PLACE,  BOSTON. 


“First  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.” — Mark  iv.  28. 


BOSTON: 

CROSBY,  NICHOLS  & CO., 

Ill  WASHINGTON  STREET. 

1855. 


JOHN  FOUR,  PRINTER, 


3lo.\ 

$ 3 L Jr 


MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT. 


The  position  of  many  pupils  in  school  is  very  un- 
comfortable, often  painful  and  trying  in  the  extreme. 
Sometimes  this  is  their  own  fault ; sometimes,  perhaps 
most  frequently,  it  is  the  fault  of  the  school.  One 
principal  cause  of  the  trouble  is,  that  all  are  subjected 
to  the  same  rigid  and  unadapted  system  of  instruction 
and  discipline.  Yet  nothing  is  more  various  than  are 
mental  capacities,  tastes  and  dispositions. 

A school  should  be  a nursery  of  mind , in  the  widest 
sense  of  the  term ; and  its  leading  object  should  be,  first 
of  all,  to  furnish  aids  and  facilities  for  the  most  perfect 
health  and  growth  of  mind.  Everything  else  should  yield 
to  this  object.  Certain  it  is,  that  that  which  is  not 
adapted  to  promote  mental  health  and  growth,  can  have 
but  comparatively  little  efficacy  in  promoting  any  other 
desirable  object  in  education. 

But  health  and  growth  imply  the  existence  of  two 
things,  namely,  nourishment  and  action . This  is  the  case 
with  the  body.  But  food  that  is  nourishing , if  adapted 
and  suitable,  is  also  palatable.  Action,  if  healthy  and  not 
excessive,  is  also  agreeable , at  least  it  is  not  painful.  Every 
healthy  being  spontaneously  seeks  nourishment  and  ac- 
tion, even  for  the  pleasure  they  afford.  These  things 


4 

are  a demand  of  nature.  Growth  is  the  result  of  a 
proper  compliance  with  these  conditions,  which  are  a 
law  of  organic  development.  But  the  mind , as  well  as  the 
body,  is  most  essentially  organic  in  its  structure  and  in 
its  wants ; and  these  same  principles  apply  to  it,  in  its 
every  capacity.  As  the  conditions  of  its  proper  health 
and  growth,  it  first  needs  nourishment  and  the  means  of 
action.  And,  to  be  truly  wholesome  and  promote  any 
proper  object  in  education,  its  nourishment  must  also  be 
delightsome ; and  its  action,  agreeable.  These  conditions 
are  certainly  our  only  assurance  of  mental  health  and 
consequently  of  growth.  If  these  fail,  therefore,  all 
fails ; for  no  proper  end  in  juvenile  education  can  pros- 
per at  the  sacrifice  of  mental  health.  All  ends  are,  as  it 
were,  bound  up  in  this  end. 

The  true  principle  of  mental  culture  then,  is  simply  a 
change  of  ends  ; it  makes  the  proper  health  and  groivth  of 
mind,  rather  than  qualification  and  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge,  the  first  objects  to  be  aimed  at  and  secured  in 
education.  Let  us,  for  a moment,  look  at  these  different 
objects  in  contrast  with  each  other. 

It  is  customary  to  enquire,/^,  what  it  is  desirable  for 
a pupil  to  knoiv  and  to  be  capable  of  doing.  That  is,  the 
great  objects  are  knowledge  and  discipline  for  the  sake  of 
knowledge  or  some  supposed  future  advantage.  A course 
is  therefore  marked  out  in  accommodation  to  these  pur- 
poses. Every  thing  must  look  to  some  future  qualifica- 
tion, or  object  to  be  attained.  The  first  enquiry, 
therefore,  is,  what  will  best  subserve  this  qualification, 
this  accomplishment,  &c.  And  progress  is  measured  by 
the  amount  of  acquisition  for  these  objects.  The  next 
thing  is  to  devise  the  means  of  securing  these  objects  with 
the  greatest  possible  dispatch.  The  lessons  and  instruc- 
tions must  be  so  adapted , — and  mark,  this  is  the  object 


5 


of  adaptation — as  to  enable  the  pupil  to  acquire  as  rap- 
idly as  possible ; the  capacity  is  measured,  if  measured 
at  all,  with  this  end  in  view.  And  when  adaptation  is 
made  as  perfect  as  it  conveniently  can  be,  the  mind  must 
“knuckle”  to  the  task,  whether  there  be  any  real  fitness 
or  adaptation,  or  not.  The  lesson  must  be  acquired,  cost 
what  it  may;  for  the  future  demands  it.  Peace  and 
health  of  both  body  and  mind  may  be  sacrificed,  if  need 
be ; the  end  justifies  the  means;  the  mind  was  made  for 
knowledge,  and  not  knowledge  for  mind.  The  body  for 
food,  and  not  food  for  the  body.  As  if  you  were  to  feed 
your  child  according  to  the  quality  of  food  which,  for  some 
ulterior  end,  you  wish  it  to  learn  to  eat,  and  the  number 
of  barrels,  bushels,  pounds,  &c.,  which  you  deem  it  ex- 
pedient to  have  consumed  within  a specific  time.  So 
many  branches  of  knowledge,  so  many  booksful,  so 
much  learning  must,  if  possible,  be  stowed  away  in  the 
intellectual  warehouse  within  a certain  limited  period ; 
just  as  if  the  mind  were  an  inert  bag,  indefinitely  expan- 
sive indeed,  but  by  dead  elasticity,  rather  than  by  living 
organic  groivth. 

But,  according  to  our  new  guide,  the  first  question 
should  be  : What  does  the  mind  require  as  the  conditions  of  its 
health  and  groivth  ? And  our  first  aim  should  be  to  answer 
these  conditions . Every  thing  should  bend  to  this  object. 
Nor  is  there,  in  any  of  the  other  proper  ends  of  edu- 
cation, anything  inconsistent  with  this,  if  they  are 
aimed  at  through  this  as  of  prior  importance.  It  is  on  a 
similar  principle  that  we  feed  our  children,  in  obedience 
to  the  demands  of  bodily  health  and  growth.  If  we  act 
wisely,  we  always  place  these  two  things  first,  and  never 
sacrifice  them  to  any  ulterior  object  whatever.  As  a prac- 
tical example  of  the  operation  of  this  principle,  we  do 
not  first  ask  the  question,  in  regard  to  any  particular 


6 


branch  of  study : can  we  so  adapt  it  that  it  can  be  acquired  ? 
Nor  do  we  make  up  our  mind  that  it  must  be  acquired 
at  any  rate,  and  then  adapt  it  as  well  as  we  can  to  facil- 
itate acquisition.  But  we  first  ask,  is  it  so  adapted,  or  can  it 
be  so  adapted,  as  to  answer  the  wants  of  the  mind  ? If 
so,  we  adopt  it,  if  not  we  reject  it  till  it  is,  or  can  be,  so 
adapted.  In  all  cases,  we  regard  the  organic  nourish- 
ment and  growth  of  the  faculty,  — as  the  faculty  of 
language,  of  history,  of  arithmetic,  of  music,  &c., — as  of 
more  importance  than  the  furnishing  or  the  qualifying 
of  that  faculty.  And  this  is  by  far  the  most  eflfectual 
way  of  accomplishing  every  other  proper  object  in 
education  ; and  for  two  principal  and  very  obvious 
reasons  — first,  because  of  a more  perfect  adaptation ; 
secondly,  because  the  faculties  will  thus  act  in  a more 
natural  and  vigorous,  and  therefore  effective  manner. 
All  the  knowledge  thus  acquired  will  have  its  roots 
planted  deep  in  the  mind ; will,  in  fact,  form  a constitu- 
tional part  of  the  mind  : it  will  thus  be  as  it  were  spon- 
taneous and  eternal. 

But  this  cannot  be  the  case  with  those  lessons  which, 
for  lack  of  adaptation  to  the  mental  wants  and  capacity, 
are  only  temporarily  lodged  in  the  memory  by  an  un- 
natural, constrained,  perhaps  distorted  and  painful  exer- 
cise of  faculty.  In  such  lessons  there  is  no  congeniality, 
no  real  nourishment;  they  cannot,  therefore,  form  a 
component  part  of  the  mind.  It  is  perfectly  futile,  nay, 
it  is  worse  than  useless  to  attempt  to  crowd  into  a pupil’s 
mind  that  which  excites  no  natural,  healthy  mental  ac- 
tion ; that  which,  for  want  of  adaptation,  is  incapable  of 
affording  the  pupil  the  proper  delight  of  acquiring 
knowledge.  It  is  futile,  because  knowledge  thus  acquir- 
ed, is  not  really  acquired.  It  is  worse  than  useless,  both 
on  account  of  the  loss  of  time  and  the  injurious  habits 


7 


thus  induced  upon  the  faculties.  This  latter  evil  is  a 
much  greater  one  than  most  persons  are  aware  of.  I 
have  often  found  it  a serious  obstacle  to  a natural  and 
proper  use  of  the  mental  powers. 

It  is  plain  that  the  adoption  of  this  new  principle  — 
new  I mean  as  a controlling  principle  in  practice  — though 
it  would  discard  none  of  the  important  branches  of  in- 
struction and  discipline,  would  yet  introduce  such  modi- 
fications in  regard  to  adaptation  as  to  make  the  real  char- 
acter of  education  a very  different  thing  from  what  it 
now  is.  It  requires  no  argument  to  show  that,  as  is  our 
end  or  object,  such  will  be  our  means;  for  our  aim  is 
always,  if  we  act  wisely,  to  adapt  the  means  to  the  ends. 
It  must  make  a most  essential  difference  therefore  to  the 
child,  whether  we  place  the  conditions  of  its  health  and 
growth  directly  before  our  minds  as  the  first  objects  to 
be  secured,  and  make  its  qualification  for  the  future  to 
be  attained  through  these  as  the  most  effectual  means ; or 
whether  we  aim  directly  at  discipline  and  the  acquisi- 
tion of  knowledge  for  their  own  sakes  and  for  future 
qualifications.  For,  while  adopting  the  latter  course,  we 
forget,  in  our  zeal  to  accomplish  our  purpose  as  speedily 
as  possible,  that  the  organic  structure  of  the  mind  itself,  is 
affected,  for  better  or  for  worse,  by  whatever  it  does,  or 
vainly  attempts  to  do  even ; we  overlook  its  true  nature , 
its  wants  and  its  state.  Thus  we  sacrifice  our  otherwise 
most  potent  instrument  for  the  attainment  even  of  our 
coveted  objects ; we  place  burdens  upon  the  mind  which 
it  cannot  carry  by  any  proper  natural  action  of  the  facul- 
ties ; its  whole  machinery  works  awkwardly ; the  mo- 
tions of  its  cogs  and  wheels,  if  I may  so  speak,  are 
retarded  by  unnatural  friction ; and  thus  its  energies  be- 
come enfeebled  and  paralyzed  when  they  should  be 
strengthened  and  invigorated  instead.  Let  it  always  be 


8 


understood  that  I am  speaking  of  our  objects  or  ends  in 
relation  to  the  child,  not  of  its  ends  in  study,  nor  of  our 
own  ends  in  respect  to  ourselves  when  we  study. 

As  one  of  the  first  happy  results  of  making  the  con- 
ditions of  health  and  growth  our  leading  end  in  educa- 
tion, it  would  prevent  the  use  of  those  extraneous  stim- 
ulants and  appeals  to  motives  which  are  a cruel  sacrifice 
of  morals  to  intellect,  and  of  the  purer  and  nobler  aspi- 
rations to  base  and  grovelling  ones ; it  would  lead  to 
such  perfect  adaptation  that  there  would  be  more  of  the 
stimulant  and  motive  in  the  very  nature  of  the  lesson  or 
task  itself,  in  which  they  properly  belong.  Indeed  there 
is,  innate  in  the  human  mind,  a love  of  action  and  a love 
of  knowledge,  that  is,  of  that  which,  by  its  adaptation 
to  state  and  capacity,  is  really  knowledge.  It  would 
also  save  much  worse  than  wasted  time ; for  the  pupil 
would  acquire  more  real  growth,  and  more  solid  and 
permanent  instruction,  in  four  or  five  hours  a day,  than 
in  double  that  time  spent  in  weariedly  poring  over  les- 
sons under  learned  and  unadapted  systems.  And  this 
would  be  so,  because  the  action,  thus  excited,  would  be 
natural,  healthy  and  vigorous,  yet  pleasurable  action. 

As  another  desirable  result,  many  pupils  who,  under 
the  usual  course,  are  accounted  dull  and  stupid,  would 
be  wakened,  as  it  were,  into  new  life  and  energy  under 
a better  adapted  course,  and  take  their  rank  among  the 
best.  I speak  from  my  own  observation.  School  also 
would  become  delightful,  and  from  a legitimate  cause, 
even  in  many  cases  where  it  is  now  a burden.  Again,  a 
little  done  under  the  proper  conditions  of  groivth,  is  more 
effective  than  whole  learned  systems  gone  over  with,  un- 
der the  influence  of  false  stimulants  and  motives,  and  a 
forced,  awkward  and  unduly  constrained  use  of  the  fac- 
ulties. How  little  of  the  learning  supposed  to  be  ac- 


quired  in  childhood  remains  of  practical  use  in  after 
years ! Let  every  one  examine  his  own  mental  treasure 
house  and  compare  his  practical  possessions  there,  with 
the  time  and  labor  which  they  cost  in  their  acquisition. 

But  whatever  has  been  gained,  as  a secondary  ob- 
ject to  the  conditions  of  growth,  has  entered  into  the 
composition  of  the  mind  itself,  and  is  that  which 
gives  it  judgment  and  capacity.  Think,  ye  who  have 
spent  weeks  and  months,  perhaps  years,  in  mouthing  into 
a kind  of  artificial  memory  a dry  epitome  of  history,  a 
volume  of  condensed  geographical  statistics,  a learned 
abridgment  of  grammar,  &c.,  &c., — how  many  of  those 
dainty  morsels  of  knowledge  have  such  form  and  place 
in  the  mind  as  to  be  of  practical  use  to  you ! Think, 
too,  of  the  processes  through  which  your  mind  passed 
in  making  the  acquisition ; were  they  of  such  a character 
as  to  contribute  to  its  real  health,  strength  and  growth  ? 
Have  not  both  mind  and  knowledge,  in  fact,  been,  in  the 
main,  sacrificed  to  vain  efforts  to  acquire  as  knowledge 
what,  for  want  of  adaptation,  was  not  such,  and  could 
not  therefore  be  acquired.  It  is  true  your  mind  has 
received  much  useful  discipline  from  some  things  that 
were  in  a measure  adapted.  But  how  much  do  you  now 
really  possess  of  that  which  you  were  compelled  to  try 
to  learn  as  knowledge , and  for  the  sake  of  knowledge,  or 
some  future  benefit  ? How  much,  I mean,  compared 
with  the  time  and  wearisome  labor  it  cost  you  ? And 
then  think,  if  you  had  had  that  only  to  do,  which  was 
capable  of  calling  your  faculties  into  natural  and  healthy 
and  therefore  agreeable  action,  how  much  more  real 
bone  and  muscle  of  mind  you  would  now  possess, — 
how  much  more  practical  learning, — instead  of  the  few 
disjointed  facts  that  remain  to  you,  as  the  tattered  frag- 
2 


10 


ments  of  old  men’s  coats,  which  were  attempted  to  be 
hung  upon  you  in  childhood  and  youth. 

The  delicate  organism  of  the  juvenile  mind  can  be  sub- 
jected to  the  necessarily  somewhat  constrained  processes 
of  education  but  a few  hours  a day,  with  profit,  or  even 
with  impunity.  There  is  even  more  difference  between 
its  susceptible  texture  and  that  of  the  adult  mind,  than 
between  the  body  of  the  child  and  the  hardened  sinews 
of  the  man.  We  can  with  no  more  just  reason  “ cram  ” 
the  mind  and  overtax  its  energies,  than  we  can  treat  the 
body  in  this  way.  All  know  that  absolute  fasting  is 
better  than  surfeiting ; and  no  action,  than  over-action. 
A pupil  may  be  forced,  or  enticed  by  stimulating  appeals 
to  pride,  to  self-love,  &c.,  to  perform  seemingly  herculean 
tasks  of  mental  labor ; but  if  it  does  not  answer  the  true 
conditions  of  growth , what  is  the  gain  ? Such  learning — 
and  much  of  the  school  learning  is  like  it — is  as  leaves 
and  fruits  artificially  stuck  upon  trees,  which  have  no 
real  connection  with  the  living  fibre.  All  true  learning 
is  woven  into  the  very  substance  of  the  mind,  and  is 
fastened  there  by  some  delight ; it  extends  its  roots  into 
a deep  and  rich  soil ; it  is  a part  of  the  mental  life,  and 
is  ever  fresh,  nourishing  and  invigorating  in  its  nature  ; 
it  is  such  as  faculties  unduly  strained,  wearied  and 
exhausted,  can  never  acquire. 

Infinitely  better  then,  in  all  respects,  are  a few  hours 
of  mental  instruction  and  discipline,  in  observance  of  the 
true  conditions  of  health  and  growth,  than  many  hours 
in  violation  of  them.  Yet  many,  perhaps  most  persons, 
under  an  infatuated  notion  that  the  engine  of  education 
cannot  be  worked  too  hard,  will,  for  a long  time  to  come, 
subject  their  children  to  the  “cramming”  process ; — to  be 
crowded  through  high  sounding  and  learned  courses, 


11 


better  adapted  to  the  adult  than  to  the  juvenile  mind  ; — 
and  this  at  the  expense  of  headaches  and  heartaches, 
and  at  a sacrifice  of  both  mental  and  bodily  health.  Just 
as  if,  during  the  forming  period  of  mind,  the  great  end 
was  to  freight  the  vessel,  rather  than  to  give  its  walls 
capacity,  strength  and  durability.  But  such  expecta- 
tions will  never  be  answered  ; even  the  coveted  ends  of 
ambition  and  expediency  will  fail  to  be  realized.  Very 
little  of  the  learning  that  is  not  acquired  by  a natural, 
free  and  easy  action  of  the  faculties,  will  remain  to  adorn 
the  mind ; it  will  most  'of  it  flee  away,  after  the  excite- 
ments connected  with  the  recitation  are  passed.  Sacrifice 
the  conditions  of  health  and  growth,  and  all  that  is  really 
valuable  is  sacrificed.  Better,  far  better  is  a vessel  with 
strong,  capacious  walls,  whose  every  timber,  plank  and 
nail  have  been  woven  into  their  proper  places,  and  at 
the  proper  time,  even  with  nothing  in  it,  than  a weak 
and  rickety  one  creaking  under  a full  but  impracticable 
freight.  But  a mind  formed  under  these  conditions  is 
far  from  being  an  empty  vessel ; it  is  of  all  minds  the 
most  full  and  the  most  practical.  The  very  means 
which  give  the  mind  the  best  and  most  perfect  degree 
of  growth,  are  precisely  the  means  that  most  effectually 
store  it  with  practical  knowledge. 

It  is  desirable  that,  when  the  mind  acts  for  the 
accomplishment  of  any  object,  it  should  act  with  energy 
and  vigor ; and  that  it  should  learn  to  control  and  con- 
centrate its  energies.  It  is  this  that  gives  the  properly 
educated  mind  so  much  power  and  advantage  over 
others  of  perhaps  equal  natural  capacity.  This  power 
can  be  acquired  only  by  habits  of  severe  application  ; and 
by  application  when  the  mind  is  in  a healthy , vigorous , 
unexhausted  state.  Such  a state  seldom  exists  with 
those  who  are  ever  weariedly  dozing  over  unadapted 


12 


lessons,  through  several  hours  at  home,  in  addition  to 
the  (to  them)  tedious  hours  of  school.  All  pupils,  and 
most  especially  girls,  should  form  such  habits  of  applica- 
tion as  to  be  capable  of  getting  through  with  all  their 
mental  labor , in  the  usual  school  hours.  If  they  are 
obliged  to  take  their  books  home  with  them,  it  is  a 
proper  inference  that  either  they  are  in  fault  or  their 
teacher  is  in  fault.  But,  in  order  to  form  these  habits, 
it  is  necessary  to  begin  young,  and  that  their  lessons 
should  be  in  strict  accordance  with  the  principles  which  I have 
stated.  I am  satisfied  that  such  application,  when  the 
habit  has  been  formed  and  the  lesson  is  properly  adapt- 
ed, is  delightful,  however  intense  it  may  be.  The  mind 
in  such  states  is  drinking  in  a most  delicious  beverage, 
and  the  intellectual  action  suffuses  the  whole  mental 
organism  with  a refreshing  and  grateful  glow ; it  is  analo- 
gous, in  its  results,  to  agreeable  physical  exercise.  But 
such  states  of  application  should  not  be  continued  after 
the  usual  school  hours,  however  agreeable  they  may  be. 
The  practice  of  poring  over  books  at  home,  when  the 
mind  has  been  in  such  vigorous  tension  in  school,  cannot 
be  otherwise  than  injurious.  The  effect  must  be  similar 
to  that  of  overtaxing  the  energies  of  the  body,  whether 
with  food,  or  with  exercise.  It  blunts  and  stupefies  the 
faculties,  and  destroys  their  healthy  tone  ; and  what  is 
acquired  under  such  circumstances  is  more  an  appear- 
ance than  a reality.  In  fact,  it  is  worse  than  an  appear- 
ance. It  is  a violation  of  organic  laiv  ; and  this  can  never 
take  place  without  positive  injury. 

All  sensible  physicians  will  say,  that  every  morsel  of 
food  we  take  beyond  the  proper  demands  of  nature,  is 
not  simply  useless ; but  that  it  helps  to  destroy  the 
healthy  action  of  the  digestive  organs;  and  this  renders 
ineffective  even  what  might  otherwise  have  been  nour- 


13 


ishing  and  invigorating ; na y,  it  frequently  converts  the 
whole  mass  into  a nauseous  and  indigestible  burden, 
and  paralyzes  the  whole  physical  system.  So,  also,  a 
little  over-action , a little  straining  of  the  muscular  fibres, 
a little  too  long  continued  tension,  beyond  a proper 
duration  of  healthful  bodily  exercise,  does  not  simply 
defeat  our  end , if  health  is  our  end ; but  produces  an 
injury  which  must  be  followed  by  more  or  less  incon- 
venience, if  not  suffering;  and  which  it  will  take  time 
and  labor  to  repair.  Thus  o^r-doing,  in  any  sense,  is 
tmdoing;  and  thus  a little  abuse,  a little  excess,  of 
whatever  kind,  is  not  simply  so  much  waste,  so  much 
irreparable  loss ; but,  worse  than  this,  it  destroys  much 
positive  good.  The  organic  mind  is  not  an  exception  to  this 
law  of  nature  ; but  there  is  even  more  danger  of  abuse 
in  regard  to  it,  than  in  regard  to  the  body.  For,  when 
we  surfeit  and  overtax  the  mind , the  consequences  are 
not  so  immediately  and  so  strikingly  perceptible  to  our 
obtuse  senses,  as  when  we  treat  the  body  in  this  way. 
The  danger  must  therefore  be  much  greater ; for  these 
consequences  are  just  as  certain.  When  we  violate  a 
physical  law  of  health,  nature  immediately  speaks  her 
complaint  through  a visible  change  in  the  features,  as 
the  dimmed  eye,  the  faded  cheek,  the  paled  lip,  &c.,  if 
not  in  racking  pain ; unmistakable  indications,  at  least, 
of  a speedy  retribution  follow,  as  it  were,  upon  the  very 
heels  of  a breach  of  law.  Not  so  with  the  mind ; if  we 
abuse  its  organism,  the  result  is  first  manifested  in  some 
physical  derangement  which  we  very  seldom  ascribe  to 
its  true  cause ; and  so  tardy  is  this  manifestation  even, 
and  our  dull  and  unwilling  senses  are  so  slow  to  recog- 
nize it,  that  the  roots  of  disease  often  get  too  firm  a hold 
to  be  eradicated,  before  we  become  sufficiently  conscious 
of  the  injury  done,  and  done  both  to  mind  and  body. 


14 


It  is  not  the  one  that  labors  the  most  hours,  but  the 
one  that  works  the  most  vigorously  when  he  works, 
though  for  a much  shorter  time,  that  really  accomplishes 
the  most.  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton  is  said  to  have 
given  the  following  history  of  Ms  literary  habits  in  a 
recent  public  lecture  : — 

u Many  persons  seeing  me  so  much  engaged  in  active 
life,  and  as  much  about  the  world  as  if  I had  never  been 
a student,  have  said  to  me — 6 When  do  you  get  the  time 
to  write  all  your  books?  How  on  earth  do  you  con- 
trive to  do  so  much  work?’  I shall  perhaps  surprise 
you  by  the  answer  I make.  The  answer  is  this : ‘ I 
contrive  to  do  so  much,  by  never  doing  too  much  at  a 
time/  A man,  to  get  through  work  well,  must  not  over- 
work himself ; for,  if  he  do  too  much  to-day,  the  reac- 
tion of  fatigue  will  come,  and  he  will  be  obliged  to  do 
too  little  to-morrow.  Now,  since  I begun  really  and 
earnestly  to  study,  which  was  not  till  I had  left  college 
and  was  actually  in  the  world,  I may,  perhaps,  say,  that 
I have  gone  through  as  large  a course  of  general  reading 
as  most  men  of  my  time.  I have  travelled  much — I 
have  mixed  much  in  politics  and  in  the  various  business 
of  life,  and,  in  addition  to  all  this,  I have  published  some- 
where above  sixty  volumes,  some  upon  subjects  requiring 
much  special  research. — -And  what  time  do  you  think  as 
a general  rule,  I have  devoted  to  study — to  reading  and 
writing?  Not  more  than  three  hours  a day;  and  when 
Parliament  is  sitting,  not  always  that.  But  then,  during 
those  hours  I have  given  my  whole  attention  to  what  I 
was  about.”  Many  examples  might  be  mentioned  simi- 
lar to  this.  And  will  not  the  experience  of  almost  every 
distinguished  personage  bear  out  the  remark,  that  the 
most  useful  and  the  most  brilliant  results  of  intellectual 
labor,  are  those  which  have  followed  from  taxing  the 
mental  energies  but  few  rather  than  many  hours  a day? 


15 


But  the  period  of  childhood  and  youth  is  not  a pro- 
ducing period;  this  is  not  the  end  of  juvenile  education; 
it  is  rather  the  period  of  development ; in  fact  it  is  most 
especially  so.  It  is  of  comparatively  little  importance 
how  much,  or  what,  children  learn — store  away  in  the 
memory — but  of  far  greater  moment  that  they  have 
the  very  best  means  of  growth.  It  is  not  the  time  for 
gathering  into  barns  and  storehouses  as  an  end ; the 
fields  are  not  yet  white  ready  for  the  harvest.  It  is  not 
even  the  period  for  the  ripening  of  the  grain ; but 
rather  for  the  preparation  of  the  soil,  the  sowing  of  the 
seed,  and  most  especially  for  the  formation  and  strength- 
ening of  the  fibres  of  the  stalk.  It  is  the  period  for  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  u blade.”  “ The  ear  and 
the  full  corn  in  the  ear  ” come  at  a later  date ; and  it 
would  be  well  to  remember  that  their  quality,  nay,  and 
quantity  also  depend  upon  the  previous  healthy  forma- 
tion of  the  blade. 

Why  then  should  not  the  best  possible  conditions  of 
health  and  growth  be  the  leading  and  controlling  aim 
and  end  in  education  ? And  why  this  insane  ambition 
to  store  away  in  our  children’s  minds  the  ripe  corn,  as  a 
ruling  end,  before  the  formation  of  the  blossom,  or  even 
of  the  blade.  But  what  else  is  the  meaning  of  the 
youth’s  being  compelled  to  spend  so  many  hours  a 
day — hours,  too,  after  the  faculties  have  become  ex- 
hausted— in  endeavors  to  acquire  knowledge;  perhaps  in 
merely  memorizing  (to  him)  unmeaning  and  incompre- 
hensible phrases  ? and  doing  this  when  the  parents’  and 
the  teacher’s  leading  aim  and  end  are  the  laying  up  of 
knowledge  ? The  adult  age  is  the  time  to  acquire 
knowledge  as  an  end,  and  the  time  to  bear  the  fruits  of 
it.  The  juvenile  age  is  the  time  to  form  the  vessel — to 
spin  and  weave  the  tender  organic  fibres  of  mind. 


16 


But,  even  if  the  great  business  of  youth  were  mental 
acquisition,  rather  than  growth  or  development,  how 
we  sacrifice  our  end  to  our  folly,  when  we  subject  the 
delicate  organism  of  our  children’s  minds  to  a severer 
experience  than  that  of  hardened  manhood!  Bulwer, 
whom  few  have  surpassed  in  the  products  of  intellect, 
mentally  labored  (and  his  reading  was  a part  of  this 
labor)  but  three  hours  a day.  How  many  children,  whose 
mental  sinews  are  but  just  coming  forth  from  the  germ, 
are  compelled,  under  the  fashionable  systems  of  educa- 
tion, to  work  twice  and  even  thrice  that  number  of 
hours!  Nay,  some  young  men  and  young  ladies  too, 
whose  ambition  is  excited  by  what  is  often  a deadly 
poison  to  their  morals,  will  scarcely  spare  themselves 
time  from  their  studies,  for  their  meals  and  their  regular 
hours  of  sleep ; much  less  for  relaxation  and  invigorating 
exercise.  Just  as  if  they  were  filling  a cart,  instead  of 
answering  the  wants  of  a forming  mind; — when,  the 
more  you  get  in,  the  more  you  carry  away.  We  cer- 
tainly do  not  act  according  to  the  plainest  dictates  of 
common-sense,  when  we  thus  overtax  our  children’s 
minds.  Just  as  if  they  should  be  always  studying , be- 
cause we  have  nothing  else  for  them  to  do ! Why  not 
set  them  to  eating  to  fill  up  a part  of  their  waste  time? 

But  it  is  our  fault,  if  our  children  have  nothing  to  do 
but  to  get  lessons ; and  a fault  of  no  small  magnitude  it 
is  too.  They  mast  be  occupied , in  one  way  or  another, 
during  all  the  hours  not  devoted  to  sleep ; and,  if  zve  do 
not  furnish  them  the  means,  there  are  those  that  will  do 
this,  and  to  our  and  their  future,  if  not  present,  most 
bitter  sorrow.  They  cannot  help  being  occupied,  even 
if  they  would.  There  is  daily  and  hourly  so  much 
mental,  as  well  as  so  much  physical  energy  that  must 


17 

• v 

come  forth  into  act.  It  is  for  us  to  guide  this  energy 
and  to  afford  it  the  proper  means  of  expressing  itself. 
We  cruelly  wrong  our  children,  and  abuse  our  sacred 
trust,  so  far  as  we  fail  to  provide  them  with  the  proper 
means  of  amusement — which  is  essential  to  their  well- 
being— and  also  of  useful  employment  which  is  equally 
indispensable  to  their  present  as  well  as  future  happiness. 
A good  mother  will  find  enough  for  her  daughters,  at 
least,  to  do  at  home,  which  will  be  of  more  service  to 
them  than  getting  lessons,  if  they  have  properly  done 
their  duty  at  school.  And  thus,  school  education  and 
home  education,  the  latter  at  no  period  of  growth, 
the  less  important,  may  go  hand  in  hand  without 
interfering  at  all  with  each  other ; they  will  rather  aid 
each  other  by  producing  a wholesome  alternation  of 
action  and  rest  of  the  various  faculties. 

School  hours  should  be  happy  hours.  It  is  essential 
to  progress.  And  there  is  no  good  reason  why  they 
should  not  be  so.  And  they  should  be  happy  hours,  not 
because  the  pupils  are  indulged  in  disorderly  habits, 
in  wild  fancies  and  in  unreasonable  desires ; not  be- 
cause their  self-love  is  flattered,  their  ambition  excited, 
or  they  are  permitted  to  have  what  is  meant  by  the  sig- 
nificant phrase  of  “ a good  time but  because  of  their 
application.  And  all  may,  sooner  or  later,  acquire  a love 
for  such  application,  if  they  are  judiciously  trained  in  a 
properly  adapted  course.  A proper  degree  of  study, 
under  such  a course,  energizes  and  invigorates  the  mind, 
instead  of  exhausting  and  enfeebling  the  faculties ; the 
spirits  are  not  depressed  by  weariness,  and  the  hopeless- 
ness of  the  task ; but  are  preserved  in  their  naturally 
elastic,  buoyant  state,  which  is  as  essential  to  the  health 
of  both  body  and  mind  and  to  progress  in  learning,  as 
is  the  study  itself. 

8 


If  it  is  proper  for  one  to  allude  to  his  own  experience, 
or  his  course  with  his  own  children,  for  the  sake  of  illus- 
tration^ I may  be  permitted  to  say  that  I have  adopted 
these  views  in  practice.  In  fact,  it  was  my  experience 
and  my  desire  to  provide,  daily  and  hourly , in  the  best 
manner,  for  my  pupils  and  my  children,  that  suggested 
the  changes  of  which  I have  spoken.  These  views 
therefore  are  not  mere  theory,  but  the  result  of  more 
than  twenty  years  of  experience  and  study.  My  school 
is  conducted,  as  far  as  possible,  on  these  principles.  I 
have  witnessed  good  practical  results.  I know  that  my 
pupils  have  been  happy  in  their  studies,  when  they 
have  begun  early  to  form  proper  habits  of  application. 
This  has  frequently  been  remarked  by  strangers  who 
have  visited  the  school.  Indeed,  not  unfrequently  a 
young  lady,  who  had  acquired  a distaste  for  school 
exercises,  and  the  name  of  a dull  scholar,  when  put 
upon  a course  better  adapted  to  her  capacity,  has 
found  even  constant  and  vigorous  application  during 
the  school  hours  so  pleasing  — her  time  has  passed  so 
agreeably — that  she  has  remarked,  she  had  “a  very 
easy  time,”  or  “not  much  to  do.”  This  feeling  arises 
from  very  contrast  with  her  former  experience,  when 
her  time  was  spent  in  dreading  her  lessons,  or  in  list- 
lessly dreaming  over  them.  Yet  she  was  doing  that 
which  both  nourished  and  invigorated  her  faculties, 
and  was  qualifying  them  for  future  action,  which  had 
been  much  less  perfectly  the  case  in  her  previous 
course. 

It  is  not  my  aim  to  make  great  scholars  of  my  pupils 
or  of  my  daughters,  or  to  carry  them  along  rapidly  in 
their  studies.  A teacher,  or  a parent,  is  but  an  humble 
servant  in  rearing  the  temple  of  mind.  God  is  the 
architect,  and  the  plans  and  the  progress  are  in  His 


19* 

hands.  He  calls  upon  us  only  to  supply  the  materials, 
as  He  day  by  day  indicates  their  want  through  the 
changing  states  of  the  mind,  which  it  is  our  province 
above  all  things  to  study.  But,  in  providing  these  mate- 
rials, we  are  by  no  means  to  be  blind  to  the  future 
destiny  and  prospects  of  the  child  or  pupil;  we  must  be 
guided  in  a measure  by  these  things;  we  must  follow 
His  providence;  but  in  no  case  does  He  require  or  per- 
mit us  to  sacrifice  a present  want  to  an  imagined  future 
one.  He  asks  us  only  to  aid  Him  in  building  that  part 
of  the  temple  now  that  is  now  in  progress.  This  is  the 
order  of  nature.  This  therefore  will  really  make  great 
scholars,  if  anything  will.  This  will  give  a real  progress 
without  any  false  appearances.  Our  children  may  not 
“go  over”  as  many  studies;  may  not  “ learn”  (?)  as  many 
languages ; may  not  be  able  to  talk  so  largely  about 
what  they  have  done,  or  what  they  are  doing ; but  they 
will  be  able  to  execute  with  vastly  more  efficiency. 
Their  learning  will  not  consist  in  the  greatest  number 
of  soiled  and  dog-eared  books,  borrowed  phrases,  &c.,  &c. ; 
but  in  more  expanded  and  energized  faculties,  in 
strengthened  and  invigorated  mental  sinews,  so  to  speak, 
and  in  a greater  power  of  practically  using  their  facul- 
ties. And  what  a spectacle  would  be  presented,  if  the 
intellectual  stomach  of  a common  school  girl,  who  had 
been  pressed  through  the  fashionable  course  of  a year’s 
study,  could  be  laid  open  ! I can  think  of  nothing  more 
appropriate  as  an  illustration  than  the  family  rag-bag 
which  is  the  tc  omnium  gatherum  ” of  bits  and  patches  of 
every  conceivable  fabric,  shape  and  color.  You  would 
behold  an  undigested  and  indigestible  hotch-potch  of 
broken  fragments  of  Latin,  German,  French,  Logic, 
Rhetoric,  Grammar,  Arithmetic,  &c.,  &c.,  all  huddled 
and  mixed  together  in  one  impracticable  mass.  Now, 


20 

« 

in  a natural  course  of  education,  where  everything  is 
presented  in  order,  in  a properly  adapted  form,  without 
crowding,  all  these  things  would  be  taken  into  the 
mental  circulation,  would  become  appropriated  and 
assimilated  as  a part  of  the  mind  itself. 

Children  may  begin  the  study  of  Latin,  or  of  French, 
in  short  properly  adapted  lessons,  as  early  as  ten  years 
of  age,  or  even  earlier.  They  may  also  attend  to  arith- 
metic, geography,  drawing,  &c.,  &c.,  in  many  respects  in 
the  usual  way,  but  in  no  case  when  such  study  is  seen 
not  to  answer  the  proper  conditions  of  mental  health  and  groivth. 
The  studies  of  my  own  children  are  limited  to  the 
school-room.  And  I am  satisfied  that  this  is  the  only 
way,  according  to  the  true  philosophy  of  both  mental 
and  physical  health,  to  give  them  that  education  which 
will  really  fit  them  for  the  highest  usefulness,  happi- 
ness and  respectability  in  society.  Yet  I feel  that  this 
course  is  hazardous  to  my  reputation  as  a teacher,  in  a 
community  whose  prejudices  seem  to  be  so  decidedly  in 
favor  of  the  daily  satchel , and  where  the  interest 
and  progress  of  the  pupil  in  school  are  so  apt  to  be 
measured  by  the  number  of  lessons  to  be  studied  at 
home. 

But  I have  good  authority  in  favor  of  these  views. 
I have  spoken  only  of  the  mental  health,  and  of  that  as 
an  object  and  guide;  medical  writers  would  favor  the 
same  course,  I believe,  without  exception,  on  the  ground 
of  physical  health.  Dr.  Warren,  in  allusion  to  the  abuses 
prevalent  in  fashionable  education,  says : 

“ The  importance  of  health  to  the  regular  exercise  of  the  faculties  of  mind,  as 
well  as  those  of  body,  is  very  well  understood  in  theory,  and  very  generally 
neglected  in  practice.  We  are  daily  seen  to  accumulate  the  treasures  of  science 
on  intellects,  where  the  physical  machinery  is  disordered  and  made  useless  by  the 
burden.  What  is  the  value  of  a brilliant  genius,  or  a highly  cultivated  mind,  to  a 
weak  and  laboring  frame.” 


21 


But,  as  I have  endeavored  to  show,  a strict  adherence 
to  the  laws  of  mental  health  — and  by  this  we  secure 
physical  health  also  — is  the  only  sure  and  effectual  way 
of  really  producing  “a  brilliant  genius,  or  a highly 
cultivated  mind.”  We  hazard  all,  when  we  risk  health 
in  any  sense  or  manner. 

“ When  we  regard  the  influence  of  a debilitated  body  on  the  more  delicate  sex, 
we  find  it  not  less  distressing.  A young  female  at  the  age  of  twelve  or  fourteen 
presents  a beautiful  figure,  rosy  cheeks,  an  airy  step,  and  the  fulness  of  life  and 
happiness  in  every  movement.  As  she  advances,  her  vivacity  naturally  lessens  ; 
but  as  if  it  would  not  be  soon  enough  extinguished,  it  must  be  repressed  by  art. 
The  lively  motions  of  the  body  and  limbs  must  be  checked,  the  spirits  must  be 
restrained,  and  a sort  of  unnatural  hypocrisy  made  to  conceal  every  ingenuous 
movement.  The  activity  of  disposition  is  destroyed ; by  confinement  she  loses 
the  inclination  for  exercise,  and  passes  from  her  school  to  a state  of  listlessness  at 

home,  or  to  frivolous  and  useless  amusements,  or  perhaps  to  fresh  tasks The 

fruit,  so  fair  without,  is  found  decayed  within,  when  scarcely  matured.  Next  the 
roses  of  the  countenance  wither  ; the  limbs  are  feeble  and  tottering  ; the  vivacity 
is  extinguished ; the  whole  system  undermined,  and  ready  to  fall  on  the  first 
shock.  Of  what  use  now  are  all  the  finery  of  accomplishment,  and  the  rich  stores 
of  literature  and  of  science,  the  fruits  of  so  many  years’  labor  ? 

“ What  I have  now  stated  as  the  result  of  the  mode  of  female  education  in  use 
at  present,  is  no  picture  of  the  imagination ; it  is  a fair  representation  of  what  we 
are  compelled  to  encounter  in  almost  daily  experience.” 

The  following  extracts  are  from  Dr.  Brigham’s  “ Re- 
marks on  the  Influence  of  Mental  Cultivation  on 
Health.” 

“ An  improvement  in  female  education  has  become  very  necessary  in  this 
country.  It  is  lamentable,  and  in  fact  alarming,  to  find  that  the  females  of  the 
United  States,  especially  those  in  cities  and  those  belonging  to  the  most  wealthy 
class,  are  in  general  more  delicate  and  feeble  than  those  in  several  countries  in 
Europe.  Erom  my  own  observation  I am  confident  that  a far  greater  proportion 
of  the  females  seen  in  the  cities  of  this  country,  are  pale,  slender,  and  apparently 
unhealthy,  than  of  those  seen  in  the  large  towns  of  England  and  France. 
But  there  is  no  other  country  where  the  females  receive  so  early  and  so  much 
intellectual  culture ; and  where  so  little  attention  is  paid  to  their  physical 
education.” 

Again:  “Little  attention  is  given  in  the  education  of  females,  to  the  physio- 
logical differences  of  the  sexes.  Teachers  seldom  reflect  that  in  them  the  nervous 
system  naturally  predominates ; that  they  are  endowed  with  quicker  sensibilities 
than  men,  and  have  imaginations  far  more  active,  that  their  emotions  are  more 
intense,  and  their  senses  alive  to  more  delicate  impressions;  and  therefore  require 


22 


great  attention ; lest  this  exquisite  sensibility,  which,  when  properly  and  naturally 
developed,  constitutes  the  greatest  excellence  of  women,  should  either  become 
excessive  by  too  strong  excitement,  or  suppressed  by  misdirected  education.  If 
here  was  the  proper  place,  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that  efforts  to  make  females 
excel  in  certain  qualities  of  mind  which  in  men  are  considered  most  desirable,  — to 
make  them  as  capable  as  men,  of  long  continued  attention  to  abstract  truths, 
would  be  to  act  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  nature  as  manifested  by  the  organization, 
and  would  tend  to  suppress  all  those  finer  sensibilities,  which  render  them  in  every 
thing  that  relates  to  sentiment  and  affection  far  superior  to  men. 

“ But  in  general  the  mental  peculiarities  of  the  female  mind  are  not  regarded  in 
education.  Their  intellectual  powers  are  developed  to  the  greatest  degree,  and 
thus  their  natural  sensibility  is  changed  or  rendered  excessive.” 

It  is  no  degradation  to  females  that  the  qualities  of 
their  minds  are  not  those  of  the  male  mind,  any  more 
than  it  is  that  their  chins  are  not  covered  with  a beard. 
They  would  be  most  unlovely,  if  they  were  different 
from  what  they  are  in  this  respect.  No  true  man  can 
love  a woman  with  a masculine  mind;  and  no  true 
woman  can  love  a man  with  a feminine  mind.  Both 
sexes  are  most  lovely  in  each  other’s  eyes,  and  most 
perfectly  adapted  to  promote  each  other’s  happiness,  just 
in  proportion  as  they  are,  in  all  tlieir  qualities , most 
distinctly  male  and  female.  They  are  different  from 
each  other  throughout  their  entire  mental , as  well  as 
physical  organization ; and  the  union  of  the  two  in  one, 
is  perfect  in  proportion  to  this  difference.  The  two 
cannot  be  compared  by  the  terms  superior  and  inferior. 
They  are  equals , though  not  alike.  The  only  terms  of 
comparison  are  male  and  female.  They  are  made  for 
each  other.  And  if  takes  both  to  make  a perfect  one , 
and  each  is  equally  an  essential  part.  Justice  to  both, 
then,  requires  that  they  should  be  educated  for  each 
other ; the  male,  as  a male  ; and  the  female,  as  a female . 
It  is  cruelly  wronging  the  female,  therefore,  to  attempt 
to  develop  in  her  mind  the  qualities  of  the  male-  mind  ; 
and  you  rob  her  future  spouse,  as  well  as  herself — just  in 
proportion  as  you  succeed  in  doing  this  — of  those  things 


23 


that  render  a wife,  a companion,  a mother,  most  happy, 
desirable  and  lovely.  Is  it  not  the  part  of  folly  then,  nay, 
of  blind  insanity,  to  push  the  two  sexes,  during  the  tender 
forming  years  of  childhood  and  youth  through  the  same 
rigid  and  unyielding  course  of  education.  Think  of  a 
college  course  for  females ! As  well  might  we  educate 
boys  and  young  men  to  fill  the  relations  in  life  of 
female  gentleness,  affection  and  sensibility. 

It  is  the  province  of  true  education  to  provide  the 
means  of  developing  the  mind  according  to  its  organic  germi- 
nal structure . The  sex  exists  in  the  germ.  The  mind  is 
horn  either  male  or  female  ; and  whether  it  be  the  one 
or  the  other,  it  is  so  in  all  its  qualities.  And  we  might 
as  well  attempt  to  develop  the  apple  seed  into  a pear- 
tree,  as  the  female  germ  into  a masculine  mind.  Any 
effort,  therefore,  to  give  the  female  mind  characteristics 
that  do  not  naturally  belong  to  it,  is  not  only  vain,  — - 
would  that  this  were  all! — but  is  a cruel  violation  of 
the  laws  of  health  and  growth;  it  is  an  attempt  to 
untwist  the  living  fibres  and  pervert  them  to  unnatural 
purposes.  If  the  female  mind  acts,  it  must  act  as  a 
female  mind ; it  must  seek  and  appropriate  nourishment 
as  a female  mind,  and  must  grow  as  a female  mind ; it 
cannot  do  otherwise,  any  more  than  an  apple  tree  can 
appropriate  nourishment  and  grow  as  an  elm.  Child- 
ren and  youth  are  dependent  upon  others  for  the 
means  of  such  nourishment  and  growth.  If  these  are  not 
supplied,  the  true  qualities  of  the  mind  are  not  devel- 
oped, but  remain  in  infantile  feebleness.  The  healthy 
balance  of  the  mind  is  destroyed,  and  the  faculties  are 
marred  and  distorted.  It  is  therefore  cruelly  depriving 
the  female  of  her  rights,  to  attempt  to  educate  her  like 
the  male.  Let  her  be  educated  according  to  the  organic 
structure , nature  and  destiny  of  her  mind.  Let  her  true 


24 


character  and  the  real  wants  of  her  mind  for  the  means 
of  nourishment  and  growth  be  our  basis  and  guide  in 
education.  That  is,  let  us  observe  strictly  the  conditions 
of  health  and  growth,  rather  than  make  some  ulterior 
object  our  aim  and  law,  and  we  may  then  have  reason  to 
hope  that  all  will  be  well.  We  shall  then  educate  females 
as  females  and  for  the  sphere  of  females,  and  shall  not 
sacrifice  them,  in  the  bloom  and  loveliness  of  youth,  on 
the  altar  of  foolish  and  vain  ambition,  or  to  ignorant  and 
misguided  affection.  We  shall  then  do  the  best  that  can 
be  done,  to  preserve,  in  integrity,  all  the  attributes  and 
peculiar  qualities  of  the  female  character,  and  to  give 
them  their  proper  means  of  growth. 

Let  it  not  be  inferred,  from  what  has  been  said,  that 
females  are  not  to  drink  at  the  same  fountains  of  knowl- 
edge at  which  males  drink  • that  they  are  to  be  deprived 
of  any  of  the  branches  that  are  adapted  and  congenial 
to  their  nature.  Very  far  from  it.  They  must  study 
language,  science,  philosophy,  art,  religion,  &c.,  somewhat 
as  males,  yet  essentially  as  females.  They,  as  well 
as  males,  must  be  made  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  their 
structure,  the  laws  of  society,  the  laws  of  Nature  and 
the  laws  of  God.  And  such  studies,  if  adapted,  will  be 
delightful  to  them.  But  the  different  sexes  will  naturally 
study  these  things  in  a different  manner,  in  different 
proportions  and  to  a different  extent.  For  many  things 
are  required  to  properly  nourish  and  develop  the 
female  mind,  that  the  male  mind  does  not  need  and 
could  not  appropriate ; and  vice  versa.  Females  will 
therefore  excel  in  one  thing,  and  males  in  another.  In 
fact,  they  will  derive  different  instruction  from  the  same 
lesson,  and  often  manifest  equal  excellence,  though  of  a 
different  kind. 

The  structure  of  the  female  mind  is  more  delicate  and 


25 


more  susceptible ; it  cannot,  therefore,  either  with  profit 
or  safety,  be  kept  in  that  constant,  continued  and  severe 
tension  of  which  the  male  is  capable.  It  requires  a 
greater  variety  and  more  frequent  change. 

But  I would  not  fail  to  express  my  dissent  from  the 
practice  of  many  parents  who  set  aside,  as  it  were,  a 
certain  number  of  years  for  the  technical  education  of 
their  daughters,  and,  during  that  period,  drive  the 
educational  engine  to  its  utmost  capacity.  Just  as  if  a 
certain  portion  of  human  existence  must  be  sacrificed  to 
pain,  drudgery,  and  privation  of  various  kinds,  for  the 
sake  of  being  qualified  for  a certain  other  portion.  The 
Divine  Providence  requires  no  such  sacrifice ; but  would 
have  the  measure  of  every  period  of  life  full  of  all  the 
education,  all  the  enjoyments  and  all  the  usefulness  that 
properly  belong  to  that  period.  And  this  is  the  Lord’s  way 
of  qualifying  for  the  future.  According  to  the  Divine 
Economy,  we  are  never  required  to  sacrifice  to-day  to 
to-morrow.  If  we  obey  His  commandments,  and  observe 
His  laws,  each  day,  each  stage  of  existence  has  its 
allotted  pleasures  as  well  as  duties,  and  both  are  at  all 
times  essential  to  a perfect  and  healthy  growth. 

It  is  owing  to  one  of  the  abuses  of  which  I complain, 
arising  from  the  want  of  a proper  adaptation,  that 
teachers  are  so  frequently  led  to  say  to  their  pupils: 
submit  to  this  drudgery,  perform  this  unadapted  and 
painful  task  to-day,  and  to-morrow’s  lessons  will  be  all 
the  easier  and  all  the  pleasanter  for  it.  This  is  like 
“ robbing  Peter  to  pay  Paul.”  We  have  no  right  to  place 
the  child  in  such  a dilemma ; and  we  should  not  feel 
obliged  to  do  so,  if  we  were  always  led  by  the  true  ends 
of  education ; for  this  is  a sacrifice  of  those  ends.  Each 
day,  each  moment  of  life  should  have  its  due.  The 
child  should  be  deprived  of  nothing  that  its  present 
4 


26 


state  requires ; and  should  be  subjected  to  no  task 
which  its  present  capacity  is  not  equal  to,  by  a natural 
exercise  of  its  faculties,  however  loud  may  be  the  imag- 
ined calls  of  to-morrow  for  aid.  I would  say,  give  the 
study  up  at  once ; nay,  abandon  it  forever,  if  need  be, 
rather  than  sacrifice  anything  that  properly  belongs  to 
the  existence  of  to-day.  For  we  certainly  sacrifice  the 
future  well-being,  just  in  proportion  as  we,  in  any  sense, 
sacrifice  what  belongs  to  the  present ; for  the  good  of 
the  future  is  built  upon  the  good  of  the  present.  These 
views  do  not  preclude  any  properly  adapted  labor,  or 
task,  however  severely  it  may  tax  the  natural  and  orderly 
action  of  the  faculties ; provided  such  action  is  not 
excessive. 

It  is  thought  by  some  that,  during  the  period  of  school 
education,  every  thing,  or  nearly  every  thing  must  give 
place  to  that.  This  is  a great  mistake.  There  are  many 
things  in  the  family  relations,  and  in  social  life  that  are 
quite  as  essential  to  the  proper  formation  of  the  charac- 
ter of  the  juvenile  portion  of  human  being  as  school 
lessons.  The  former  should  not  interfere  with  the 
latter,  nor  the  latter  with  the  former.  The  faculties  of 
the  mind,  like  the  branches  of  a tree,  should  all  be 
growing  at  once  ; it  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  organic  life  to  push  forward  a part  and  then  go  back 
and  bring  the  others  forward.  I have  no  sympathy 
with  that  view  or  feeling  that  would  deprive  a young 
lady  of  any  proper  degree  of  social  intercourse,  or  of 
cultivation  of  the  society  of  the  other  sex,  because  of  her 
school ; neither  would  I say  a wmrd  to  encourage  an 
excess  of  either ; abuse  is  bad  on  either  side.  It  is  a 
most  unnatural  state  of  society  that  requires,  or  permits 
the  separation  of  boys  and  girls  in  their  school  educa- 
tion. They  are  designed  by  nature  to  grow  up  together, 


27 


and  to  be  formed  by  each  other’s  influence.  The  relation 
of  brother  and  sister  is  not  sufficient ; children  require 
society  beyond  the  family  circle.  But  where  this 
relation  does  not  exist ; where  a girl  or  a boy  grows  up 
entirely  without  the  influence  of  the  opposite  sex,  it 
is  the  oddest  of  created  beings.  One  of  the  most 
essential  parts  of  the  character  is  left  in  the  germ  for 
want  of  the  proper  means  of  growth.  Such  beings 
are  therefore  most  lamentably  deficient  in  that  which 
gives  human  society  one  of  its  sweetest  charms.  , 

And  there  is  music,  and  needle-work,  and  many 
seemingly  unimportant  little  domestic  affairs,  which  are 
nevertheless  much  more  essential  to  sound  mental  health 
and  growth,  yea,  and  to  happiness  too,  and  this  daily, 
than  so  much  French  and  German ; and  not  only  this, 
but  all  these  things  are  at  the  same  time  aiding  in 
qualifying  the  female  mind  for  her  sphere  in  life.  And 
which  qualifications  does  the  sensible  young  man  prize 
most  highly  in  a candidate  for  partnership  for  life,  those 
acquired  from  school  books,  or  from  the  domestic  duties 
and  the  social  relations  ? Of  course,  neither  should  be 
neglected.  And  neither  should  be  sacrificed  to  the 
other.  Let  each  have  its  place.  And  then  each,  instead 
of  interfering,  will  contribute  to  the  highest  perfection 
of  the  other.  But  I would  be  understood  to  regard 
the  hours  of  the  school  room,  or  an  equivalent  portion 
of  time,  as  sufficient  for  school  education.  And  I have 
arrived  at  this  conclusion,  on  the  ground  of  mental 
health  and  physical  health,  as  well  as  of  the  lest  future 
qualification.  This  is  the  true  way  to  have  a sound  mind 
in  a sound  body*  and  so  to  live  as,  in  the  highest 
degree,  to  fulfill  all  the  conditions  of  the  present,  and 
be,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  most  perfect  manner  qualify- 
ing for  the  future. 


28 


I have  long  been  convinced  that,  if  this  principle, 
namely,  health,  (and  all  is  embraced  in  that  one  word,) 
were  adopted  as  a controlling  object , our  children  would 
become  more  perfectly  educated  in  every  sense  of  the 
word ; that  they  would  better  fulfill  the  conditions  of  their 
present  being,  and  would  be  very  much  better  qualified  for 
tlieir  place  in  future  society ; for  every  faculty  would  thus 
receive  its  proper  means  of  nourishment  and  growth ; 
and  none  would  be  surfeited  or  overtaxed.  And  phys- 
ical health  would  not  be  offered  up  a willing  sacrifice 
to  the  Moloch  of  pride  and  doting  ambition.  The  virgin 
might  wear  her  roses  into  womanhood,  and  the  young 
man  preserve  his  energy ; insane  hospitals  would  be  rob- 
bed of  many  of  their  tenants,  and  the  grave  of  a large 
portion  of  its  premature  occupants. 

A school  conducted  on  these  principles,  must  neces- 
sarily be  limited  in  its  numbers.  The  teachers  must  be 
living  teachers;  and  mind , more  than  books,  must  be  their 
study,  and  their  constant , daily  study.  No  labor-saving 
machinery  can  be  adopted.  The  teacher  must  be  more 
than  an  automaton,  (wound  up  for  action  at  some  pre- 
vious day,  perhaps  in  college,)  and  his  pupils  more  than 
parrots.  Parents  must  learn  to  be  better  satisfied  with  a 
little  real  progress,  than  with  much  false  appearance  of 
learning; — to  be  in  the  habit  of  thinking  and  of  asking, 
not  how  much  or  how  rapidly  their  children  are  acquiring , 
but  whether  their  faculties  are  healthily,  happily,  indus- 
triously and  vigorously  occupied ; not  hoiv  much  they  are 
doing , but  ivhat  they  are  doing  and  how  they  are  doing  it ; 
and  most  especially  what  is  their  state  of  mind  when  oc- 
cupied. Then  we  may  hope  for  a change  which  will  be  a 
real  improvement.  But,  if  parents  are  apprehensive  that 
their  children  do  not  receive  the  greatest  possible  advan- 
tage from  their  school,  because  it  does  not  subdue  the 


29 


buoyancy  and  elasticity  of  their  spirits  and  oppress  them 
with  hard  lessons  at  home,  or  because  they  do  not  study 
this  branch  and  that,  which  are  supposed  to  be  fashionable 
or  necessary  to  some  future  accomplishment  — teachers 
must,  in  a measure,  accommodate  themselves  to  the  pre- 
judices of  their  patrons,  and  sometimes  submit  to  embar- 
rassments which  interfere  with  what  they  conceive  to  be 
the  highest  good  of  the  pupil.  Parents  are  often  not 
satisfied  with  the  slow  progress  of  growth , whose  processes 
cannot  be  hurried;  they  want  to  see,  forthwith,  some 
tangible  results ; as  they  would  count  the  volumes  of  an 
increasing  library.  And  yet  the  greatest  benefits  of  a 
proper  course  of  mental  culture,  are  out  of  sight ; they 
consist  of  those  internal  organic  changes  which  are  rather 
a development  of  moral  and  intellectual  strength  and  capa- 
city , than  acquired  learning.  It  is  not  till  moral  and  in- 
tellectual capacity , which  is  formed  only  by  the  properly 
adapted  means  of  nourishment  and  action,  rather  than 
accumulated  knowledge  and  accomplishment,  become  the 
leading  aim  and  end,  and  parents  learn  to  appreciate  this, 
and  judge  rightly  concerning  it,  that  we  shall  witness  those 
changes  which  are  most  desirable  to  be  introduced  in 
school  education.  It  is  a most  discouraging  fact  — dis- 
couraging to  him  who  would  zealously  study  out  the 
true  principles  of  the  art  of  education,  and  be  faithful  to 
those  principles  in  his  calling  — that  parents  often  seek 
the  merely  fashionable,  the  conventional,  the  external, 
in  preference  to  what  the  true  interests  of  education  de- 
mand ; and  that  they  frequently  give  their  confidence 
and  their  encouragement  to  mere  tyros  — where  such 
superficial  objects  can  be  most  perfectly  secured  — 
rather  than  to  those  of  long  and  faithful  experience. 

But  it  seems  necessary  to  guard  against  misconstruc- 
tion of  the  views  that  have  been  presented.  I would 


30 


not  be  understood  as  advocating  any  loose  system  of 
education.  I have  no  sympathy  with  the  idea  that 
would  leave  the  young  to  do  what  and  as  they  please ; 
very  far  from  it.  Their  tastes  and  inclinations  are  fre- 
quently in  a very  perverted  state ; and,  even  if  they 
were  not  so,  the  rational  principle  of  their  mind  is  not  de- 
veloped. They  know  not  how  wisely  to  choose  for,  or 
to  guide,  themselves.  Of  the  various  things  that  are 
properly  adapted  to  their  capacity  both  to  learn  and  to 
do,  some  are  capable  of  affording  them  more  pleasure 
than  others ; and  they  are  quite  likely  to  avoid  the  less 
agreeable  as  absolutely  distasteful  and  repulsive,  when  the 
question  is  really  only  one  of  degree  of  pleasure  — and 
when  too  the  less  agreeable  is  the  more  necessary  and 
useful.  If  left  to  themselves,  the  young  and  inconsiderate 
will  of  course  choose  those  things  which  they  love  best , 
whether  in  mental  or  in  physical  action.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  they  must  often  be  compelled  to  do  what  we 
think  best , rather  than  what  they  choose.  Indeed  com- 
pulsion is  an  instrument  of  most  constant  and  important 
use  in  our  own,  as  well  as  in  our  children’s  develop- 
ment. We  are  often  obliged  to  compel  ourselves  to  do 
the  less  agreeable  of  two  things  ; and  we  do  it  in  obedi- 
ence to  our  reason,  to  law,  or  to  expediency.  We  must 
treat  our  children  in  this  respect  as  we  treat  ourselves; 
for  we  are  obliged  to  reason  and  to  make  laws  for  them. 
Their  judgment  is  not  yet  formed ; and  they  are  incapa- 
ble, but  in  a very  imperfect  degree,  of  compelling  them- 
selves to  do  what  is,  on  the  whole,  best  to  be  done.  Pu- 
pils often  require  compulsion,  in  one  form  or  another,  to 
make  them  get  their  lessons  — however  well  adapted 
these  may  be  — because  of  a natural  repugnance,  which 
we  all  feel,  at  being  subjected  to  any  rules,  or  restraints 
upon  liberty.  When,  then,  we  have  satisfied  ourselves 


31 


that  what  we  think  it  best  for  our  children  to  do  is 
properly  adapted  to  their  capacity , we  should  insist,  and 
most  perseveringly  insist  upon  their  doing  it,  and  doing 
it  with  promptness  and  energy.  We  should  never  yield 
to  any  plea  of  disinclination  or  of  distaste.  They  must 
obey.  They  must  perform  the  task.  And  they  will 
find  their  reward  certainly  in  the  higher  act  of  obedi- 
ence, and  in  the  act  of  performance  also ; — - unless  we 
have  made  a mistake  in  regard  to  adaptation.  For  we 
are  so  organized  by  our  Creator,  that  there  is  always  a 
rewarding  pleasure  in  a proper , healthy  action  of  our  fac- 
ulties. 

But,  to  compel  them  to  do  what  is  not  adapt ed,  is  a very 
different  thing.  This  is  an  unpardonable  wrong.  It  is 
a cruel  abuse  of  our  relation  to  our  children,  or  our 
pupils.  It  is  what  we  have  no  right  to  do,  whatever 
may  be  our  motive  or  end,  and  however  great  the  imag- 
ined future  advantage  to  be  gained  by  it.  Another 
abuse  of  compulsion  arises  from  yoking  the  slow  scholar 
with  the  quick  one,  and  then  driving  both  up  to  the  ex- 
tent of  speed  of  the  latter;  just  as  if  we  were  to  harness 
the  heavy,  clumsy  draught  horse  beside  the  light  and 
fleet  coach  horse,  and  expect  the  same  duty  from  the 
two. 

Yet  I would  not  be  understood  as  encouraging,  in  any 
degree,  a tame  and  spiritless  application.  On  the  con- 
trary it  is  very  important  that  the  young  should  form 
the  habit , not  only  of  doing  thoroughly,  and  well  what 
they  do,  but  of  working  with  vigor  and  energy  while 
they  work.  This  is  indispensable,  and  especially  so, 
when  all  the  school  labor  is  performed  in  the  usual  school 
hours,  which  will  be  the  case,  particularly  with  girls,  in 
proportion  as  we  are  guided  by  the  true  philosophy  both 
of  mental  and  bodily  health  and  mental  acquirement. 


32 


Again,  we  have  no  right,  in  any  sense,  to  sacrifice  any 
of  the  present  conditions  of  life,  in  regard  to  onr  child- 
ren, to  a supposed  future  advantage.  The  laws  of  de- 
velopment forbid  this.  The  true  interests  of  the  future 
also  forbid  it.  If  we  see  fit  to  force  ourselves  through  a 
course  of  weeks,  months,  or  years  of  unadapted  and  un- 
rewarding “drudgery”  for  the  sake  of  an  imagined  future 
gain,  it  may  be  well  perhaps  for  us  to  do  so.  But  to 
treat  those  in  this  way  whom  Providence  has  commit- 
ted to  our  care,  as  He  has  our  children,  for  the  daily 
means  of  human  growth , is  an  outrage  upon  ©ur  trust.  Let 
the  future  enlighten  the  present,  but  never  control  it ; at 
least  no  farther  than  the  idea  of  a completed  temple 
controls  the  workmanship  of  the  successively  forming 
parts.  Each  part  should  be  formed  in  perfection  for  its 
own  sake  as  a part ; the  foundation,  as  a foundation ; a 
wall,  as  a wall , &c.  There  can  be  no  greater  folly  than 
an  attempt  to  develop  the  man  in  the  child.  Let  each 
stage  of  human  being  be  formed  in  perfection,  as  it 
comes  successively  to  be  present.  The  best  that  we  can 
do  towards  building  the  man,  is,  in  childhood,  to  pro- 
vide the  means  of  forming  a perfect  child. 


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